Cutting Challenging Growth Patterns Along The Front Hairline

There are definitely some crazy growth patterns out there, most of which we can apply a cutting technique to camouflage and finish with a good styling product. Today, the tools are the stars that create the big wins for us!

Andrews model and long time buddy has a very peculiar growth pattern right at the hairline at the top of his forehead. Now, we have never heard of anyone naming a growth pattern, leave it to Andrew  he calls this one caterpillar - two growth patterns that grow completely forward as well as kick to the side.

Why this shear? The straight blade on the InvisiBlend Shear is smooth, not sharp like the straight blade on our Reversible Blending Shear. That being said, when the teeth of the InvisiBlend Shear close onto the straight blade, due to the straight blade not being sharp, the hair is pushed to the side a bit and cut  almost like little arcs and no two hairs are cut the same. This action results in extremely soft ends. No straight lines, no demarcations  only lots of little curved lines within the shape.

Why this comb? You need a comfortable length with wide teeth at one end to lift the hair at the neckline without much tension. Ivory comb for darker hair  the contrast will enable you to stay on point and keep track of your guides.

The majority of the haircut in this video has been completed using shear over comb with the Reversible Blending Shear and a Short Cutting Comb. The Reversible Blending Shear results in surface texture.

We left out the area in the front hairline to give us the visual on combatting this radical growth pattern. You will see the split in the middle and how it is very dense on each side of the split.

Using the wide teeth of his Cutting Comb, begin with shear over comb with the Reversible Blending Shear to knock down a little of the length in the dense area to the side of the split. The advantage of the Reversible Blending Shear is the little residual hairs will fall in many different directions  we do not want to see any flat lines at all as they will accentuate the radical grow pattern. The direction of the teeth play an important role as whichever direction the teeth are facing will influence the direction the hair will lay  in this cut the teeth are facing toward the head.

After knocking down some of the length, you will notice some of the hair left wants to fall straight down against the forehead. By going back in to remove that excess length to result in a cleaner perimeter, you will see there is still some density going on.

To address the density even more, change over to your InvisiBlend Shear. This shear will result in an even softer edge than that of the Reversible Blending Shear and removes less hair. This is an obvious choice to move into this new shear to finish the cutting in this area, as the shear is less aggressive in the removal of hair.

HOT TIP:  We all know we can always take more off but we can't put it back on!

Next, lets go into the dense area to clean it up and remove a little more weight, resulting in a visually pleasing hairline as opposed to the visual of the radical growth pattern.

Can you over do it? Of course you can! Take caution to refrain from over texturizing with any shear  take it slow, especially if you are embarking into unfamiliar territory  a head you've never cut before.

HOT TIP:  A bundle of short hair is much stronger than a couple of long hairs.

Do you remember the first time you took a section too short? It usually only takes just once! You never want to experience the hair that sticks straight out or up again!

As you watch Andrew use this technique on the right side of the split at the forehead you will really be able to see the transformation of the growth pattern vs. the left side that is uncut. It is very apparent that the two Sam Villa Shears – the Reversible Blending Shear along with the InvisiBlend Shear – were the stars that stole this show with Andrew as the creative director of the technique.